Liberal, #22, 15-21 March, 2010
Fatima Margieva, the editor of the opposition newspaper held captive in Tskhinvali is a personal inmate of Kokoiti
The South Ossetian “KGB” found a large stock of arms and explosives in the house of a 51-year-old pedagogue of a higher education institution and the editor of an opposition newspaper titled “The Position”. more»
Report on the Implementation of Georgia’s European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan – Georgian NGO Coalition (TI Georgia, ISFED, GYLA, Green Alternative, CSRDG) presents Report on the Implementation of Georgia’s European Neighbourhood Action Plan (2009). The purpose of this report is to provide an analysis of the Georgian Government’s implementation of the ENP Action Plan. The intention is not to be comprehensive, but to offer analysis on those areas that fall under the expertise of the coalition members. The Government of Georgia has already provided an assessment of its own performance for the January to June period of this year and so the report will also respond to that. The report covers strengthening the rule of law, democracy and human rights (priority one), sustainable development, poverty reduction and environmental protection (priority three) and transport and energy (priority eight).
Back to the Future: Developing a Topography of the Terror – - Together with local historians and international experts in the culture of memory, the Heinrich Boell Foundation and dvv international are developing guided educational tours that will visit selected locations in Tbilisi that are related to repression and state terror during the Soviet period. Like similar efforts in Germany or the Baltic states, the tours will be part of a culture of memory, helping to come to terms with difficult legacies of the past. more»
Georgian translation of the Volume I of the IIFFMCG report – - South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation is happy to present Georgian version of Volume I of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia. Please, note that this text is not authorized and isn't an official translation.
download (52 pages, 500 KB)
„Conflict and Transformation in the South Caucasus“ – Organised by the South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) of the University of Duisburg-Essen. Bakuriani, Georgia, 6-10 October 2009
The one-week summer school brought together twenty young researchers and NGO staffers from the South Caucasus and ten experts in the field of post-communist transformation, national identity, conflict management, state building and Europeanization. The organisers were Iris Kempe and Nino Lejava on behalf of Heinrich Böll Foundation and Tobias Debiel and Corinne Heaven on behalf of the Institute for Development and Peace.
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NATIONALITY: HUMAN – - 3rd annual South Caucasus Documentary Film Festival of Peace and Human Rights (September – November 2009)
The South Caucasus Documentary Film Festival of Peace and Human Rights – “Nationality: Human” is a unique traveling film festival that connects the South Caucasus by screening documentary films concerning reconciliation, conflict resolution, and human rights issues, and later encourages audience discussion on the issues the films expose. The festival annually screens between 10 and 12 award winning documentary films. Over the past two years, the festival has traveled to a total of 51 towns and villages. more»
Summer school for regional leaders – During 29 August-03 September 2009 seaside town of Batumi, Georgia hosted a summer school for regional leaders. The main focus of the Summer School, organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation and funded by the European Commission, was to give the community leaders from eight regions of Georgia general skills to further enable them manage their projects and work together with different organizations. more»
The situation in Georgia regarding the representation of women in the country’s political processes is hard to describe as satisfactory today. The picture is even worse in the regions, where the women’s participation is more of the exception rather than the rule – these are the views we most often read in different reports and conclusions stated by various international organizations, NGOs and experts working on the issues of gender problems in Georgia. more»
Regional Media in Adjara. Chance and Limit for the Democratic Development of the Region – - What is that the media in Adjara can do to support the democratic development process in the country and is there any possibility for the media to act as the controlling mechanism of the government in the region – these were the main issues discussed during the debates organized in Batumi on December 16th by the Heinrich Boell Foundation.
Article in newspaper "Batumelebi" in Georgian (download pdf) more»
The Report of the IIFFMCG: Structural causes and strategic implications of the Russian-Georgian war in August 2008 – - A packed house greeted the first major public discussion in Georgia about the Tagliavini Report since it was issued. The standing-room-only crowd on November 11 numbered more than 100 Georgian citizens, joined by numerous members of the international community. They heard contrasting views from Temuri Yakobashvili, State Minister for Reintegration; Paata Zakareishvili, political scientist and Republican Party activist; and Tornike Sharashenidze, Head of the International Affairs Program at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). more»
Development of Tourism and Environmental Perspectives – - Tourist season is over. Data from the Tourism Department of the Adjarian Autonomous Republic show that 400,000 tourists visited Adjara during the 2009 season, the highest number in recent years. The regional government has declared developing tourism one of its prime priorities. The renewal of the seaside boulevard in Batumi, new five-star hotels and a project to restore much of “old Batumi” all demonstrate the government’s desire to develop tourism infrastructure in Batumi. On the other hand, the quality of the waters of the Black Sea, the Batumi oil terminal and Batumi’s seaport raise questions about current and future environmental problems in the region. more»
Absence of will – - Vakho and Teo, the main heroes of this documentary are twenty-something university graduates from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Born as the Soviet Union collapsed, they've grown up in the shadow of the wars that tore their country apart in the early nineteen nineties. They're too young to remember the fighting, but like everyone from their generation, their lives have been shaped by the legacy of the violence. more»
Debates in Gori and Akhaltsikhe – - Increasing the awareness of the population of Georgia on the issues of political participation is of paramount importance for the development of civil society in the country. With this in mind the Heinrich Boell Foundation embarked on the way of reaching out the local population in the regions and raise the issues of relevance to their daily lives. more»
Will the clock start again for refugees? – - Being a refugee means living in between, no longer in the home that was left, and not making a new home. Time, the normal progression of life, is suspended. Whether someone becomes a refugee as recognized by international organizations by crossing borders, or whether one remains within the same country as an internally displaced person (IDP), the effect is the same. The Heinrich Boell Foundation office in Tbilisi is currently hosting an exhibition of works by German photographer Uwe Schober that he shot in Georgia among refugees following the war with Russia in 2008. more
The Soviet past and problems of understanding Stalinism –
What is the difference between the Stalinist and other totalitarianisms?
Why did not our society begin to speak about Stalinism for such a long time?
What is preventing us from comprehending Stalinism?
Why did the people love and still loves Stalin in Georgia?
These and some more questions were asked to the main speakers of these debates L. Gigineishvili, N. Bekishvili, and I. Mitsishvili. more
Stalinizm and its heritage (in Georgian)
Portraits of prisoners of "Alzhir" (in Georgian)
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We introduce you the 12th issue of Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD). Please, see the list of articles of this issue:
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My Friend’s enemy is my Friend: armenian Foreign Policy between Russia, Iran and the United States by Mikayel Zolyan, Yerevan
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US policy towards the South Caucasus: how to move forward by Fariz Ismailzade, Baku
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Obama and Georgia: a year-long awkward silence by George Khelashvili, Oxford
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Attitudes toward the West in the South Caucasus by Terese Svensson and Julia Hon, Tbilisi and Seattle
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No. 12 - Civil Society –
- Civil society in the Caucasus: myth and reality by Jonathan Wheatley, Zurich
- Can the eastern Partnership Program of the eU help Civil societies in Participating states? by Ghia Nodia, Tbilisi
- Civil society in azerbaijan: Under Fire but still resisting by Shain Abbasov, Baku
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- After the Prague Summit of May 2009 the relationship between the EU and its eastern neighbour countries have entered new grounds. The Eastern Partnership´s agenda launches closer cooperation and an enhanced vision towards democratization in the region.
- Eastern Partnership: Towards Civil Society Forum
- Beyond zero-sum thinking in the EU’s Eastern Partnership
- Declaration of the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit
The Reform of the European Neighborhood Policy – The present paper examines the actual implementation of the Action Plan as an ENP instrument in terms of both its content and its institutional framework following the lessons learned from the experience of Ukraine. It assesses new ENP instruments that have been introduced during the EU presidencies of Finland and Germany (2006-2007) under the ENP Plus proposal, especially when it comes to the strengthened sector policy dialogue and prospects for the accession of ENP countries to European Community Programmes and Agencies.
download pdf (80 pages, 575 KB) more»
Yerevan-based Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) organized three one-day seminars in regions of Armenia: Vanadzor, Gyumri and Yeghegnadzor, with support from the South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation.
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Football diplomacy and beyond – A breakthrough in Turkish Armenian relations
What would an opening mean for the two countries? What has made the rapprochement possible? How have political leaders handled the delicate process? What are the implications for the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh? How will Azerbaijan react? What new prospects open for relations between Europe and the South Caucasus, or between Turkey and the rest of Europe?
This dossier combines expert analysis and interviews with political leaders to give the latest insight into a complex region, and how conflicts can be peacefully overcome.
